US President Donald Trump applauds as he attends a campaign rally for Republican US Senate candidate Ken Paxton at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, US, October 7, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump was advised by Tina Peters, a convicted former Colorado election clerk, to seize ballots nationwide, according to her attorney, who says Trump won't "relinquish control again."
Kyle Clark, an anchor at Denver's 9NEWS, reported Thursday that Peters met with Trump at the White House on Monday, citing former Justice Department official Ed Martin.
Clark said Peters' attorney, Peter Ticktin, "hinted at the potential for civil war" in an interview last week with Colorado podcaster Joe Oltmann.
"The plan that Peters is pitching, according to her attorney Peter Ticktin, is to have the Trump administration seize ballots across America and conduct a hand recount," Clark told viewers.
"It's a good plan, and I do think that something like that is probably gonna happen," Ticktin told Oltmann.
"In the event that we have this kind of a disaster and everything goes wrong and the vote is crazy and the senatorial races put enough there to remove the president and the vice president, if that nightmare should come true, Donald Trump is not going to relinquish control again," Ticktin said.
"So he's got nothing to lose. The nation has nothing to lose. It's better, if we're going to have a civil war of any sort, that it'd be marching off with our side and all of the armaments," Ticktin added.
Oltmann, who has called for the execution of Colorado's top Democrats, then said he is not afraid to die, Clark reported. Clark also cited Oltmann's past statements that "violence is going to be necessary" and "there are targets."
Martin, who left the Justice Department this year to do legal work on upcoming elections, disclosed Peters' Oval Office visit Monday on the conservative network Real America's Voice, Colorado Newsline reported.
"And so when Tina Peters, you know, famous Colorado clerk, was in the Oval Office today, just two hours ago, talking about this question, the president's taking it seriously," Martin told the network. "If the Congress won't pass the SAVE America Act, and they won't, then the president's gonna have to do what he's gonna do."
"And it is not a local issue when it's national security, and it's clearly national security," Martin added.
The SAVE America Act would require voters nationwide to show documents proving their citizenship, according to Newsline.
An unnamed source confirmed the Monday meeting to ABC News, Newsline reported. The White House does "not comment on private meetings that may or may not have happened," spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement.
Adrienne Mazzone, a publicist for Ticktin, told Newsline that he cannot discuss or confirm matters he must keep private between himself and his client.
Peters, a Republican and former Mesa County clerk, was convicted in 2024 of multiple felonies for her role in a security breach of her office's election equipment, Newsline reported. Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) cut her prison sentence earlier this year, and the Colorado Department of Corrections released her in June.
Clark said "anyone could have seen this coming a mile away" when Polis shortened her sentence. Clark added that Polis left out a standard line in the letter granting the shorter sentence, which says the inmate had taken accountability, shown remorse and would be successful upon release.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said in a statement to Newsline that Peters and Trump "are election deniers who have repeatedly lied to the American people."
"Coloradans can rest assured knowing that we've so far defeated Trump's unlawful attempts to influence election administration, and we will fight any attempt to interfere with Colorado elections," Griswold said.